Chapter 79
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Ameris's Night
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Baek A-rin stared at me with bloodshot eyes, as if on the verge of total exhaustion.
She let out a sigh and said to me,
"I think I'm about to hit mana exhaustion."
"Yeah, you look it."
She really did look worn out.
And why wouldn't she? Baek A-rin had probably never spammed skills this hard in her entire life.
"Good work. Erina."
At my words, Baek A-rin shook her head as if she couldn't take it anymore.
"Cut it out. No more brain freeze."
Thanks to barreling straight through the swamp, we'd cut down on time.
It had taken about a day to escape the swamp.
Which meant it was now the morning of day three.
I glanced sidelong at the heaving Baek A-rin.
'If she didn't have skills on her level, even attempting this would've been impossible.'
Not that crossing the swamp was easy to imagine in the first place. Plus, this spot barely skimmed the edge of the training zone.
'That was a close one.'
Even a slight detour off the path would've gotten us disqualified from the training.
But I had to get here fast, even if it meant taking the risk.
Other clubs could just do better next time.
But not me. I had to arrive quickly, risks be damned.
Erina, looking utterly spent and dazed, spoke up.
"When do we get there? Where's my sightseeing tourrr?"
"No such thing. We gotta keep walking."
"Gyaargh! Don't lie to me!"
Checking the map, the central area was just an hour or two away.
I tried to calm Erina, whose eyes had rolled back in frustration.
"Well, we're almost at the center now. Just a little farther."
"For real?!"
Erina's face lit up with energy in an instant.
Makes sense. She'd eaten well and slept soundly. As long as her mental game's on point, her condition stays prime.
Now came the real key: getting "kidnapped" by Ameris's Night.
'Kidnapped, that is.'
More precisely, a two-kilometer radius around a certain spot would transform into a dungeon.
In other words, the ground we were standing on would soon become part of the dungeon.
We'd already reached the domain of the dungeon "Ameris's Night."
Yet it still hadn't begun.
That meant the fourth club hadn't arrived within Ameris's sphere of influence.
In short, we weren't the fourth team, at least.
'Does this lock us into Ameris's Night?'
Still, why the fourth team specifically?
If she wanted to die, wouldn't more teams be better?
Then again, trying to understand a vampire's mindset might be the real fool's errand.
What mattered was the dungeon's size.
"Ameris's Night" spanned a two-kilometer radius.
Not small by any means.
No, among dungeons, it was rare—practically super-sized.
Makes sense, in a way.
A sole survivor vampire from ancient times, dual-wielding blades in her final dance. No way it'd match your average dungeon's scale.
And that was the problem.
I'd reread Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy countless times.
It was worth every penny of that hundred-won price tag.
If it'd been a physical book, the pages would've been ragged.
Even so, I couldn't quite recall the layout of "Ameris's Night."
'Not exactly, anyway.'
For starters, the dungeon's interior was made up of sub-dungeons.
You couldn't proceed without clearing each one.
The issue? Multiple doors to the next dungeon, and some were duds.
Lee Seong-hyeon breezed through them, hitting the final dungeon with Ameris on the first try.
'Even back in his fifth regression, their first encounter.'
Ameris was waiting for one thing: the man who could kill her.
That is, "Lee Seong-hyeon."
Free pass for him alone.
Still, I had one edge.
The dungeon forms around a "certain spot" with a two-kilometer radius.
And I knew that "certain spot."
Meaning, I just had to dash toward it before Ameris's Night kicked off.
That alone would get me to Ameris faster than Seong-hyeon.
I eyed the map where Ameris should be.
Her spot: the ruins of an old cathedral.
'A vampire meeting her end in a cathedral. Hilarious.'
I marked the location and turned to Erina and Baek A-rin.
"We're heading there right now."
Erina squinted one eye at my words.
"Siwoo, can't you read a map? That's not the destination."
"I know."
"Then why go there?"
"President's orders."
Erina struck a bizarre pose like some taekwondo form.
"Hoo. Time for K-form to fix the broken Siwoo back to normal."
Erina swung her toes wildly in the air.
I grabbed her to stop her.
"No, if that hits, I really won't recover."
Erina lowered her foot.
"Then convince me! Kiyaaahoo!"
"No, that's not K-taekwondo. That's C-martial arts."
Sensitive topic. Can't mess it up.
Her actually being good at it was the most absurd part.
Baek A-rin looked at me and asked,
"Got some mysterious intel again?"
Baek A-rin and her knack for hitting sore spots.
Was it intuition? Or just blind trust?
"Not really intel. Just feels off going straight to the goal."
She shot back, like what do you mean.
"Off how? Spill the details."
Details, huh.
That determined look—like she needed a reason.
This time, I couldn't brush it off easily.
Mix some truth in, and it'd be fine.
I glanced around once and said,
"The path toward the training goal feels weird. Way too few ghouls that way."
"You mean..."
"Maybe another club passed through ahead of us."
Baek A-rin tilted her head.
"So, you're saying there might be a trap?"
"Exactly."
Truth was, the lack of ghouls around the goal was no mystery.
Seong-hyeon had already swept the area.
I looked up at Erina and said,
"Plus, it feels kinda familiar."
"Familiar?"
"Like that time with you and the dungeon collapse."
Erina yelped in shock.
"Siwoo, we getting buried again?! No wayyy!"
"No, calm down. Just a hunch."
Sorry.
Not buried, but trapped? Definitely.
Baek A-rin nodded like she got it.
"Understood. I trust your instincts anyway, and I wasn't planning to defy the president to begin with."
"Glad you get it."
"Plus, whatever the source, your tips always pan out."
"Haha..."
Baek A-rin nodded, then checked the map.
She pointed at my marked spot.
"But why there of all places? If the goal's sketchy, we could just stay put."
I pointed at the area around my marked destination.
"Look at the map. See those unknown terrain features nearby?"
"Yeah."
Baek A-rin nodded in confirmation.
"Figured those are building ruins. Might score some materials if we're lucky."
"Well, if you say so."
Baek A-rin nodded, convinced, then sidled closer and whispered,
"But seriously, where do you get that kind of info?"
"What info? Just a hunch."
Baek A-rin looked unsatisfied and pressed,
"Come on, you're that strong—surely you can share this much. We're in the same boat, right? Be honest with me. You with some secret agency or what?"
She made a finger gun and aimed it at me.
"Drop the weird suspicions."
"I'll uncover it someday."
Baek A-rin "fired" her finger gun with a bang, blew on the barrel, and grinned.
I checked the time on the sly.
'Can't afford to dawdle.'
We'd arrived right on schedule.
But no clue when the third-place club got here.
Meaning, no telling when "Ameris's Night" would trigger.
The priority: haul ass to Ameris's spot before the fourth team showed.
"Alright, let's move."
Irregular, piercing beeps blared from the tangle of complex machinery.
Screens were plastered with error messages.
"Damn it, what the hell's going on?!"
"Get a connection now! Tell them to report properly!"
The training control room was pure pandemonium.
"Damn, damn! What do we do...!"
Sergeant Yeo gasped for breath, lost in the chaos.
"Fix it now—hurry up!"
"We're trying, but nothing's responding. Looks like all the sensors are fried."
Sergeant Yeo scowled fiercely at her subordinate's words.
She yelled back at him.
"Dozens failing at once? Does that make any sense? Fix it right!"
"Should we contact Inferno Clan's Kim Do-hoon? Just in case, report the situation..."
At her subordinate's suggestion, Sergeant Yeo glared daggers and jabbed his chest with her finger.
"Why the hell bring in an outsider? I'm your sergeant. From now on, all reports go through me. Got it?"
Sergeant Yeo bit her nail, deep in thought.
'Damn it. What did I do to deserve this? It's all these stupid machines' fault!'
And so, the initial response to "Ameris's Night" was delayed.